Terrible book made worse by woeful narration

I wish I'd read more reviews for this one before purchasing. Lots of reviews raise the same issue I experienced:

- no idea this was a YA book when I purchased. Don't get me wrong, I've listened to and enjoyed YA books in the past, but this seemed to have a reading level of around 10, but with quite gory violence making it not really suitable for any age;
- none of the protagonists were in the slightest bit likeable. Again, I've enjoyed books previously when the main protagonists are not likeable. But generally there's at least one redeeming character - even if minor - who makes the reader feel they haven't completely wasted their time;
- Clare Corbett as a narrator is absolutely dire. To be fair, I didn't think all her male voices were terrible, but Fura (or Führer, as she pronounces it) and Adrana were made to sound so whingy and annoying I just wanted to box their ears as soon as they started speaking;
- as others have mentioned, the audio quality was very poor, but this could have been down to the narration. Quiet narrative interspersed with loud, often screechy, dialogue made it impossible to set the volume at a comfortable level.

May be for someone, but certainly not for me.

12 people found this helpful

Had the promise of some thing epic

But failed to deliver I loved some of Reynolds books but this one pens out a vast history with untold words, alien's, planets, artifacts and mysteries only to focus on a few humans doing human stuff and a girl setting up a plan to kill another girl... What? I made it to the end so it's totally rubbish but it's 50/50 if I return this or not.. Another one of those sci fi books that's not really anything about sci fi the story could easily be altered to be pirates at sea or London gangs..

8 people found this helpful

Oh dear

The first Reynolds book I haven't enjoyed at all. The plot is utterly lacking in credibility and cohesion. Awful characters. Terrible dialogue. For me, the narration compounded the poor writing and the two combined created a naff cod-piratical world, full of idiotic country bumpkins and mockneys who I didn't care about, doing not a great deal for reasons I couldn't understand or believe. It gives me no pleasure to say it, but this is not a good book. Disappointing.

20 people found this helpful

ok story. nothing new or mind bending here

narrator was mostly very good, but there are many parts where she goes too quiet and wispy which is really hard to hear when you're driving without turning the volume up really loud. Probably all good if you're using head phones

story was OK. it's based in a world with ancient techhnology where none of the inhabitants really understand what's going on. there no innovative scifi ideas if that's what you like.

5 people found this helpful

Just didn't work for me

Would you try another book written by Alastair Reynolds or narrated by Clare Corbett?

I thought Clare Corbett did a good job with the Narration, though I'm not sure about another Alastair Reynolds story - this was the first story of his I've read.

What will your next listen be?

Hopefully something with a story I find enjoyable?

Which character – as performed by Clare Corbett – was your favourite?

Mattise

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The narrators performance. There are a few exciting situations near the start of the book with some characters that are actually likeable.

Any additional comments?

Reads more like a YA novel, which I wasn't expecting. YA needn't mean an inherently bad story if it's engaging, with interesting characters - I really enjoyed the Hunger Games series for instance. Unfortunately this wasn't the case with Revenger.

I didn't really warm to the characters or follow their line of reasoning in a few cases, in fact I'm not even sure I like the main protagonist by the end of the story. I also felt it leaned way too hard into space as the high seas, with spaceships as sail boats, and 1800s English slang schtick. The metaphorical world where the story is set also really failed to grab my attention.

There are also a few "it just so happens" moments which for me kill any suspension of disbelief.

5 people found this helpful

Pirates in Space

I've long been a fan of Alastair Reynolds and am always looking forward to his new books. Happily, Revenger is great. The story is fairly simple, the tale of two sisters - one who is captured by space pirates and the other who sets out to find her.

It's a fun ride with well thought out characters and hints at a much bigger universe which I hope Reynolds will explore again in the future.

If there is one fault, it's the narrator. While she had a good voice, it doesn't quite fit the story and she struggles with some of the male voices

5 people found this helpful

YA? You'll like this

Shame really, I love Alastair Reynolds and this is good if you're a teenage girl (preferably), I'm an old bloke and it just misfires, I'm not the target audience; it would have been good to be warned.
RETURN

17 people found this helpful

Y.A./teen sci-fi - unfulfilled potential

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

A bit borderline whether I finished it or not. Aimed at a younger audience than perhaps I expected from the description. Some interesting ideas, but very under-developed.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

More detail, more description, more back-story. Narration needs improving.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Oddly stilted delivery at times - awkward gaps between sentences. Can't tell whether it is poor narration or poor editing. Also the volume is problematic. Quiet narrative interspaced between loud dialogue means that you are constantly fiddling with the volume control to try and keep it audible and comfortable. Generally could be much improved.

Was Revenger worth the listening time?

Not really.

4 people found this helpful

Really, really good

Sometimes I struggle with Alistair Reynolds. I have found some of his books absolutely captivating and others downright dull and memorable only because they were so outrageously dull. I loved the first two books of the Revelation Space trilogy, liked the third and really disliked The Prefect and Terminal World.

I'm glad to say that this is one of his better ones and the performance by Clare Corbett was excellent.

A really good story with the potential for a cracking sequel in a very interesting universe.

3 people found this helpful

Solid adventure sci-fi in an interesting universe

Revenger is a pretty straight forward pirate story in space. I enjoyed it, it was well paced and the characters were great although I felt a little under developed by Mr Reynolds normal work. But this story is not quite at the normal scale for Alistair Reynolds - unless this is of course just the beginning of a much bigger story. If this is the case I look forward to it. The story was still gripping and it made me look forward to listening to the next bit throughout the book which is always a good sign.

What I really liked the most in the book is the universe that was explained fairly superficially but suggested so many mysteries about the occupations, the baubles, AIs, the civilisations and technology. I do hope there is more to come form this universe. I also liked the use of language to describe things, this was fun although if you are too analytical about it, it does seem weird to portray another universe entirely that speaks English but uses alternative, slang like English words. But I enjoyed this use of language by the characters. Maybe the universe is in fact our universe at another time and I have just missed the point until now LOL!

Always a big fan of Alistair Reynolds - one my favourite authors and I have enjoyed this book probably more so than his other recent work. Hope he continues the story in his next book - would like to see what happens next and what mysteries are to be revealed.

Narration wise Clare Corbett was excellent with the voice acting. A few odd pauses (no big deal - probably a production issue) but as others have noted - if you are listening to this in the car there are a few sections that are very quiet (to be fair this is when it makes sense for the dialogue to be quiet in voice acting terms) but did make it very hard to hear at some points.

I really liked this book - recommended.

1 person found this helpful